Swingman wrote:
wrote:
mostly do work that way. But being rushed by the glue is one problem
that I didn't see a way around until I was forced to really look for
different glue. (There is no way I ever could have put the case
together in the 15 minutes or so that PVA allows. I enlisted my
wife's help in glue application and assembly and it still took 45
minutes to get everything together.) So when I glued up the drawers I
was always rushed. By the time I would get to the point where I'm
supposed to check if the assembly is square I've already been fighting
against the glue and I'm at the end of my open time and probably tired
and drained from the stress of it all. I'd much prefer it if I could
come back tomorrow and double check the assembly for square. But I
haven't found any 48 hour glues. At least the next time I do
something like this I'll have an hour instead of 15 minutes---that
should cut down on the rush factor. (The next project is a table
which seems like it should be a lot easier to put together than 27"
long dovetails.)
Simple solution: Don't glue-up the whole piece at once!! Break it into
two, or more, glue-ups! Rare is the component that you can't break down
into multiple glue-ups if need be.
CAVEAT: when doing partial glue-ups, it's a good practice (actually
imperative) to go ahead and clamp up the full assembly, both glued
joint, and unglued joints, and check for square.
Use some common sense with multiple glue-ups, think it through so that
you don't glue yourself into a corner; practice the steps first before
each glue-up, with clamps at ready; and your project will thank you ...
I'm coming in real late on this one, but I think it's important to
stress what Swing is saying here, but from a different angle.
My first glueups were as stressed as what Adrian is describing. I
suspect most experience that "time is running out" syndrome, and the
added pressure almost ensures that something will be forgotten.
Because of that, anything that could go wrong needs to be anticipated
long before the glue lays down. Although it's a royal pain in the ass, I
do a lot of dry fits. That's probably to my detriment, as each dry fit
is going to loosen the joints slightly but I'll take that hit if I can
do one dry fit and have it run flawlessly. Including measuring the
diagonals.
Then, when I do my final wet assembly, that one gawdammed thing that
didn't show up in dry fits rears its ugly head. Happens each time, and
if it didn't I'd think something was way off. However, all of the other
smaller problems are dealt with and I can still do it inside the glue's
open time.
The key is to not be surprised by much. That's why the dry fits work for me.
Tanus